The Confidant
by MeridianGrimm
Summary: Hakuba Saguru overhears something strange from the small, bespectacled detective and decides to investigate. [Oneshot]


Disclaimer: I don't own DC or MK. This particular oneshot does not include the movies as canon, so Kid doesn't know Conan's real identity when this starts. Also, for the purpose of this story, Subaru Okiya doesn't live in the Kudo house - maybe it takes place after he's moved out. *Shrug*

It's 8/29 in my time zone, so happy birthday to Hakuba Saguru! Yay!

xxxxxxXXXxxxxxx

_It's almost dawn,_ Hakuba groaned as he finished giving his statement at the precinct. This had been an interminable day, and after 3am he had given up hope of going to school on Thursday. By some miracle, Edogawa Conan was still awake too, though Hakuba noticed the brilliant child's eyes start to droop every now and then. He had been invaluable on this case, even though the Ekoda police kept pushing him from one officer to the next, trying to keep him out of the way.

"Where's your adult?" some kind, younger policewoman asked Edogawa.

"He's been busy with a case," Hakuba offered. "Mouri-san is working with the police on a different homicide, but we haven't actually seen him in hours." Which was a blessing, actually. Hakuba's patience was not at its best at 5:43am, and the obnoxious "sleeping detective" would've made for bad company.

The officer frowned, then looked at Edogawa. "Do you have anyone who can come pick you up? I'd offer, but I'm on my way out to a crime scene across town."

"I live in Beika," Edogawa answered brightly. "I'll take the train back."

"Not by yourself you won't" she contradicted. "It's not safe."

Edogawa made a very sarcastic expression, and Hakuba heard himself saying, "He can come home with me." They both looked at him. "I don't live far, and you look exhausted, Conan-kun."

"Thank you, Hakuba-niichan." Edogawa smiled. "I'll call the detective agency and leave a message for Uncle Kogoro." Hakuba had to carry the tiny detective from the cab to his house, trying not to disturb the half-asleep Edogawa as he unlocked the door. It was tricky, but they got inside.

Hakuba looked at the guest bed, wondering how he was going to turn the covers down without dropping the kid. "This wouldn't be difficult at a reasonable hour of the day," he muttered. "All-nighters are hell on my cognitive skills." He got a muffled half-chuckle from Edogawa. _I suppose I could set him on the chair first, then move the covers…_

He got the boy tucked in and flipped off the light. "Goodnight, Conan-kun," Hakuba murmured.

"'m not Conan," the child mumbled, shifting to get comfortable.

Hakuba froze, instincts sharpening. "What?"

"Not Conan," he repeated around a snore.

"You're not Edogawa Conan?"

"Not Conan." The seven-year-old's brow furrowed. He spoke into the pillow: "That's not my _name_."

"It's okay," he whispered cautiously, unsure if he should walk back towards the bed. "I won't call you Conan." It felt weird to tell that lie, but the child was barely awake.

"Don't call me Conan," the boy sighed.

xxxxxxXXXxxxxxx

"How much trouble is Kid-sama in right now?" Hakuba was jerked away from his thoughts as a certain magician's face appeared in his view.

"What are you talking about, Kuroba-kun?"

"You've been having that 'thinking' look all morning, the one that says someone else should be very nervous. Coming up with plans to catch the world's favorite phantom thief?"

"No."

Kuroba's eyebrows jumped. "No?"

"A friend of mine isn't who he says he is."

"Hey! I told you, I'm not the Kaitou Kid!"

"I wasn't talking about you, moron. I unintentionally overheard someone admit that the name I know him by isn't his real name."

"Interesting. Is it anyone I know?"

Ah, payback. "It's someone that _Kid_ might know" – or rather, definitely knew – "but since you continue to claim that you're not him, I don't think you do. And therefore it's none of your business."

"Hmph. Well, have you asked this friend about it?"

Hakuba recalled the morning after he'd brought Edogawa back. The unnatural childish behavior that sometimes came out in Edogawa was in full-force when Hakuba finally got out of bed for lunch. "No, I haven't had the chance yet."

"If he's not going by his real name, then he probably has a good reason. Giving up your entire identity isn't something done easily or lightly." Kuroba paused. "Not that I know that from experience, of course," he added with a manic grin. "Just guesswork based on my research into my Kid-sama's identity!"

"Kuroba-kun… that was actually insightful."

"Don't sound so surprised, Haku-chan!"

xxxxxxXXXxxxxxx

Questioning Mouri Ran without making it sound like an interrogation was easier than he'd expected. Edogawa would've twigged to it immediately, but he was crawling through the vents somewhere in the building, chasing Kid.

"How long have you been Conan-kun's guardian? He seems very comfortable with you."

Mouri tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Wow, it's only been eleven months. He settled in so nicely, it seems like he's been here forever."

"He's a good kid, then?"

"Usually. He and his friends in the Detective Boys club are always getting into dangerous situations, but you wouldn't _believe_ how often it's someone else's fault – it's like they walk around with trouble-magnets in their pockets. Conan is very polite, and I'm sure you know how smart he is."

"Conan-kun is special," Hakuba agreed. His brilliance continued to be a surprise every time some obscure factoid came out of his mouth or he asked exactly the right question.

"He seemed a bit… lonely, before he met those kids. And he's taken to Hattori-kun very nicely too. That makes perfect sense, though, since Conan lives and breathes detective work just like Shinichi."

"Shinichi?" _Why does that name sound familiar?_

Mouri-chan grinned. "Kudo Shinichi. He's another high school detective."

"Ah, I remember Hattori-kun mentioning him now. Is Kudo-san, ah… your boyfriend?" The first-name terms suggested a close relationship.

"If he hadn't started this big case of his, maybe he would have been. As it is, things have changed."

"Big case?" Hakuba asked, intrigued against his will.

Mouri's expression turned annoyed. "Yes. He left home just under a year ago to work on this big thing with the FBI. He won't tell me anything about it, and he's not in the country much. Shinichi calls occasionally and I've seen him briefly a few times, but he's very busy. So busy that there's a rumor going around that he's dead."

_Back to the original line of questioning,_ he reminded himself. _Looking up Kudo Shinichi can wait._ "Does Conan-kun know Kudo-san too?"

"Oh yes, Conan talks to Shinichi all the time." She sighed. "I'm… irritated… that he talks to Conan more than me, but Conan needs _some_ connection with his family, and his parents definitely aren't providing it. A distant cousin is better than nothing."

"So Conan is Kudo-san's apprentice?" That made an enormous amount of sense, because the Beikan _certainly_ wasn't learning his detective skills from Mouri Kogoro.

"I guess you could say that. It was weird, though, because I never heard Shinichi mention him before Conan showed up."

_Maybe this Kudo Shinichi knows Conan's real name, and _that's_ why Mouri-chan hasn't heard him talk about "Conan."_ Another reason to look up the apparently elusive detective.

xxxxxxXXXxxxxxx

The next murder case Hakuba worked with Edogawa, everything was back to normal – or what passed for normal for Edogawa. The culprit had made a break for it after the two detectives had her logically cornered, and Edogawa calculated the fastest route to cut her off, getting a soccer ball from _somewhere_ to kick at the murderer. She'd dropped like a rock.

"That was amazing,"Hakuba told the kid, hands on his knees as he waited for the adrenaline to stop pumping from the chase. "I hope you appreciate how incredibly versatile you are." Clever, athletic, and able to focus single-mindedly on a goal.

Edogawa looked surprised, but pleasantly so. "Thank you."

"You sure you want to stick as Hattori-kun's partner?" It was only half a joke.

The shorter detective got a funny grin on his face. "Hattori's my friend and occasional partner, but I think he'd consider me a rival first. He expressly told me during the Detective Koushien that we'd be working separately – until the murder happened. I only came as his assistant because I wouldn't make the 'high school' qualification by myself."

"Things would have ended very differently without your efforts." Edogawa nodded once, not bragging, just acknowledging the remark. While being ferried to the police station to give their statements, Hakuba began, "I'm going to a discussion group next week about Holmes' impact on forensic science. Would you be interested in joining me?"

Edogawa's eyes lit up. "I'd love it." Then he looked at Mouri-chan. "Can I go?" She nodded, and he beamed, turning back to Hakuba. "This'll be the most fun I've had in _ages._"

"Same. Have you read them all, Conan-kun?"

"Please, with a name like mine, do you think I _couldn't_ read them all?" Hakuba laughed as Edogawa launched into praise for Sherlock Holmes, and he somehow forgot that the other detective was an elementary school student and not his own age.

xxxxxxXXXxxxxxx

Kudo Shinichi sounded like a bit of a prat, but then again, Hakuba's primary medium of knowledge about the Eastern detective's character was news articles, and Hakuba would be the first to admit that reporters contorted people's personalities to make the news interesting. Hell, they made Hakuba sound like an arrogant git. There was a _difference_ between arrogance and confidence. It was just subtle enough, though, that a careless eye might mistake them.

So, personality aside, Hakuba would openly agree with the media and the police reports that Kudo was good at what he did. Poring over old case files on his father's computer, Hakuba raised his eyebrows at the methods the other detective employed to obtain evidence and confessions. _He thinks outside the box. I respect that._

Hakuba nearly fell out of his chair the first time he came across a photograph of Kudo. "Kuroba?" he gasped, then looked closer. _No, not him. Good. I don't know what I'd do if there were two of Kaito running around._ The horror. Several files later, he paused in his search, struck with a strange thought. _Hold on a moment. What if Kuroba really _isn't_ Kid? What if it's Kudo?_ Hakuba would owe the joker a huge apology. And there would be pranking. _Lots_ of pranking.

Then his reason returned, and he shook his head. "Kudo isn't associated with magic. He doesn't come across as someone who plays tricks on people. It _has_ to be Kuroba." But he'd ask, just in case.

Hakuba approached his classmate the next day. "Kuroba-kun, are you related to the detective Kudo Shinichi?"

The magician looked up from his newspaper. "No. Why?"

"You must have seen photos of him in the paper. He could be your twin."

"Yeah, I've seen him."

"Has Kid ever impersonated Kudo Shinichi, any times that you know of?"

Kuroba was suddenly very interested, paper forgotten. "Not that I know about, but I'm sure the great Kid-sama would make a _wonderful_ detective. What prompts this very-specific question, Hakuba-kun?"

Hakuba shrugged. "It occurs to me that someone with the ability to think creatively, who has been missing for a year, and who looks an awful lot like the face Kid generally shows at heists, might be a good candidate for Kid."

Kuroba's reaction was absolutely _priceless_. There was a long moment of shock, as he realized that Hakuba was suggesting someone _else_ as Kid. Hakuba couldn't hide a smile as he committed the expression to memory, knowing that he was one of few to ever see it. Finally, the magician's poker face slammed down.

"Or maybe not," Hakuba added for Kuroba's benefit. "Kid wouldn't be so foolish as to show his real face to his chasers – the hat and monocle don't cover that much." And if Kuroba missed the implied insult there, then he was slower than Hakuba took him for. "Maybe he saw Kudo in the papers and modelled a disguise after him."

"Perhaps," Kuroba replied pensively, before perking up. "Hey! Wanna go look up Kudo-kun with me? If he's Kid-sama, then I'd like to know _everything_ about him." _And while we're looking, I can prove Kudo isn't Kid,_ Hakuba could practically hear Kuroba thinking. For all his lies, Kuroba wouldn't really want an innocent person arrested as "Kid".

"That sounds like an excellent idea." If he could get a look into Kid's mind while researching Kudo, well, Hakuba had never been opposed to multitasking. This would probably be the strangest partnership he'd ever come across.

xxxxxxXXXxxxxxx

Before Hakuba could look into his personal research project, however, he had to finish his psychology paper. Ekoda didn't have all the materials he was looking for, but Beika's branch would fill in the blanks. So Hakuba was in Beika Library, tucked away in a corner chair with a stack of books piled on a table nearby.

Hakuba could have gotten the books sent to Ekoda's library, but the detective in him pointed out that if he visited Beika often enough, he might run into Edogawa on the way to or from the library. Edogawa's strange admission was still at the forefront of Hakuba's mind; it was what had prompted the study of Kudo Shinichi in the first place. So it was about 70% that he needed the books, and 30% because Edogawa might show up if Hakuba stuck around.

"Hakuba-niichan?"

_Speak of the devil. _The half-Brit looked up to a see a group of kids at the other end of the aisle. "Hello, Conan-kun."

Edogawa quickly introduced his companions and told them, "Hakuba-niichan is a detective too."

"Oh! So he's like Hattori-niichan?" the one called Ayumi-chan asked, interested.

Hakuba spotted Edogawa's hint of a grin at the comparison. "Ah, yes, you could say that," Edogawa answered. Then the kid had the temerity to _wink_ at him. "They have _lots_ of things in common." Brat.

The girl turned to Hakuba. "Do you know Hattori-niichan? Are you friends?"

There wasn't really a nice way to answer that honestly. Diplomacy was the best he could try for. "I don't know him very well. So, what are you kids doing in the library on such a sunny day?"

"We're here to find books about bats for my animal report!" Ayumi declared with a banana-peel smile.

"_I'm_ looking up eel," Genta corrected proudly.

_Ah, kids. Changing the subject still works on them. _ Hakuba smiled at their enthusiasm. "And what about you, Conan-kun?"

"Entomology," Edogawa answered.

Ayumi clutched the bespectacled boy's arm. "He's writing about the cool bugs that land on corpses!"

Hakuba stifled the urge to laugh. "Of course he is."

"Something funny, Hakuba-niichan?" But Edogawa was grinning too.

"Nothing at all. I'm here looking for research materials about criminal psychology."

Edogawa raised his eyebrows, intrigued. "Want some help with that? I could skim some of the books and make notes."

Hakuba knew an opportunity when he saw it. "Sure."

The tiny detective turned to the children. "I'll catch up with you guys in a bit. Go find the kid's section, okay?"

"As long as you're not trying to leave us out of a case again," Mitsuhiko replied.

"I'm not," Edogawa promised. He subtly shrugged the little girl off him and picked up one of the reference books on the table as the other kids left.

"Thank you," Hakuba said.

"You could've just had the books sent to Ekoda's library. I'm assuming you wanted to talk to me? Or someone else in Beika?"

"Nothing gets by you, Conan-kun. I don't have any specific questions for you…" That wasn't true, but coming out and asking Edogawa about the half-asleep conversation would no doubt shut him down and put him on guard. Like Kuroba had alluded earlier, Edogawa wasn't the type of give up his identity for kicks. "I'm just curious."

"Oh? What about me?"

"Don't play dumb, Conan, it doesn't suit you. You're perfectly aware of how intelligent you are. It would be stranger if people _didn't_ notice and want to know more about you." Edogawa smiled at the compliment but opened a book, purposely ending the conversation.

They worked in silence for a half an hour until Hakuba noticed that Edogawa was checking his watch every forty or so seconds. "Is something wrong?"

The smaller detective frowned. "I haven't seen or heard from the kids in over thirty minutes. That means they've found trouble." Hakuba didn't miss the fact that Edogawa wasn't referring to himself as a child.

"Come back if you need help," Hakuba ordered firmly as the tiny detective got up to leave.

"Thanks, but I've only run into one case I couldn't solve. And I haven't given up on that one yet."

xxxxxxXXXxxxxxx

"Kuroba-kun, your idea of 'looking up' Kudo Shinichi is going to his house?" Hakuba sighed as he looked at the locked front gates of the Kudo family home. "I don't know why that surprises me. You don't do anything the normal way." Kuroba had all but kidnapped him at the end of the school day and (amazingly) kept his lips zipped about the purpose of their trip.

"You're right. I do things the _fun_ way."

"You realize that if you suggest breaking into his house, then I will have even more evidence that you're the Kaitou Kid?"

"Only if you'd care to explain to the police why you're interested in Kudo Shinichi. Which, given that you haven't asked them about him yet, I gather is not something you want to do."

"Kuroba-kun… we're _not_ breaking into his house."

"Good thing I haven't suggested that, then."

Hakuba paused at that. "What _do_ you suggest? Kudo's been gone for a year. He's hardly going to answer if we ring the doorbell."

"Oh, Hakuba-kun, you underestimate my many talents."

As if on cue – and knowing Kuroba, he'd timed it on purpose – Mouri Ran jogged up. "Sorry I'm late," she started.

"Mouri-chan, it's nice to meet you," Kuroba began with his charm turned up to full. "And I think you already know Hakuba-kun."

"Yes. It's lucky you called yesterday, Kuroba-kun. I was just thinking of coming over here to dust soon." Mouri pulled out a key ring and began to unlock the gate.

"How did you explain us coming over here?" Hakuba murmured to Kuroba as the three walked in.

"I told her that I'm Kudo-kun's kindergarten friend and I asked to look through old photo albums. My mother wants to digitize the photos and make an all-inclusive album of my childhood. And you're my boyfriend." Before Hakuba could respond to _that,_ probably with outrage and a liberal seasoning of judo, Kuroba added, "Just go with it. It got us in." _I… can't argue with that._

When they'd taken off their shoes and set down their backpacks, Mouri-chan gestured them to the stairs. Kuroba put an arm around Hakuba's shoulders familiarly. "You can stay down here, cutie pie. I want to surprise you with all the _adorable_ pictures when the album's done!"

"I'm going to kill you," Hakuba hissed as Kuroba sailed by. "And not even Kudo will be able to find your body." Kuroba giggled and skipped up the stairs behind Mouri-chan. "Or I'll owe you a huge favor," he continued to empty space as it finally clicked that Kuroba was giving him time alone in the house to look for information about Kudo Shinichi.

Hakuba gravitated to the Kudo library first, and found that a collection of mystery novels that matched his own. The room was tall and filled completely with shelves. Two well-worn, cushioned chairs sat on either side of a reading light, and the desk had papers scatted across like someone had just gotten up and walked out for a stroll. It felt like the room was… waiting. Feelings weren't quantifiable evidence, but it was the intuition of a detective that had Hakuba looking around, sure that something in this house could solve the riddle.

Hakuba got caught up in examining the titles of the Kudos' books. As he reached for a volume he was unfamiliar with, his logical side reminded him, _You're here for a specific purpose. Find out where Kudo is so you can ask what he knows about Edogawa Conan._ Reluctantly, Hakuba dragged his hand back, slipping into the family room next door. The room looked unused compared to the well-loved library. It was decorated perfunctorily, presentable for guests but barely occupied otherwise. The only non-generic thing about the whole area was one table that held dozens of picture frames. Several were photographs of the Kudo Shinichi that he was familiar with from the newspaper pictures. Others showed him in middle school, playing soccer or being smothered by his apparently effusive mother and beside his enigmatic-looking father. Hakuba got to the oldest photographs and froze.

He was looking at Edogawa Conan.

_There's no way they're distant cousins. The resemblance is too close._ He couldn't mistake those clear, sharp eyes and distinctive cowlick. Hakuba would swear on Sherlock Holmes' venerable name that kiddie-Kudo was the same as Edogawa Conan, sans glasses. It was the maddest answer to this conundrum, but also the most brilliant. Things started to click in rapid succession:

Edogawa was a genius detective, despite his young age and presumably few years of experience. Kudo was a detective that had probably grown up on mystery novels and medical dictionaries, like Hakuba had.

Edogawa loved soccer and frequently kicked with enough power and precision to knock out a full-grown adult. Kudo was known to be a star soccer player.

Edogawa had been in Mouri-chan's care for about eleven months. Kudo had been gone just under a year.

There was no photographic evidence that Edogawa Conan existed before a year ago - he'd checked - only documents like a birth certificate and school records, which could be easily faked. There were no photos of Kudo Shinichi since he dropped out of the spotlight.

Somehow, Edogawa Conan _was_ Kudo Shinichi.

"Sagu-chaaaan," Kuroba sang as he came down the stairs with Mouri several minutes later, "Time to go! Shinichi-kun didn't have any pictures of me in his albums! I'm going to have to call him up and give him a scolding, won't I, lovey?"

"Yes," Hakuba answered automatically, still stuck in shock. He restarted his nervous system and walked quickly out to the main hallway, where Kuroba was putting on his shoes.

"Thanks so much for letting us in, Ran-chan," Kuroba began, bowing and producing a rose. "We should get together some other time."

"Sure. I'd like that, Kaito-kun. Goodbye, Hakuba-kun," she added with a smile. "I'll probably see you at the next Kid heist."

"Kuroba too," Hakuba coughed. Then, louder, "Thank you, Mouri-chan, for putting up with my…" Hakuba couldn't finish the sentence with "boyfriend," he just couldn't. He'd have to gag Kuroba before he could even_ think _about spending an extended amount of time with him.

Kuroba jumped in. "It's okay, honey, you can call me Kai-chan in front of friends! Don't be shy!"

"Kai-chan," Hakuba repeated, desperate to get out of the house.

Once they were out and down the sidewalk, Kuroba casually started, "You must have found _something_ on him. What distracted you enough to actually call me 'Kai-chan'?"

"Kudo-kun is… impossible."

"Are you just saying that because he's solved more cases than you?"

"No. It's just… he breaks every rule I've ever learned about what is real."

Kuroba sobered and kept his gaze straight ahead. "I saw the pictures in the Kudo albums, and I've seen Edogawa-kun at Kid-sama's heists." There. It was out in the open. Hakuba wasn't the only one who'd seen the connections, wasn't the only one mad enough to _think_ that Kudo had somehow de-aged himself, whether intentionally or accidentally.

"What should I do?" Hakuba asked. _It's not just my problem. Kid regularly interacts with Conan too._

"What would you want him to do, if your positions were reversed? Do you think you can keep it a secret from him that you know who he is?"

He sighed. "I probably could. What I'm trying to decide is whether I want to." He thought about Kudo, a brilliant, popular detective, suddenly being surrounded by children and treated like a seven-year-old for a _year_. In the same situation, Hakuba would have drowned in feelings of frustration. _I would want a confidant, or several. People who know who I am so I don't forget._ "I think I'll tell him," Hakuba finally answered. "But I want to get the timing right."

xxxxxxXXXxxxxxx

"What did you want to talk to me about, Hakuba-niichan?" Edogawa joined Hakuba on the park bench, looking out at the playground and green space. The forecast had predicted rain, so the park was mostly empty.

"I have a mystery on my hands," the half-Brit began.

"That tends to happen around detectives," the smaller detective replied evenly.

"I'm looking for advice actually. I can't go to anyone else for this."

Hakuba felt more than saw Edogawa glance over at him incredulously. Since the other had the appearance of a seven-year-old, Hakuba could understand why. "You have my attention."

"I have a secret," Hakuba stated, mentally framing a fictional scenario that mirrored Kudo's situation. "One that, for personal reasons, I haven't shared with people close to me. It's something that no one would believe, under normal circumstances. I don't have to put on that much of an act to hide it, because people believe what makes sense to them." It was _still_ utterly ridiculous that a teenager could revert into a child-like body. Hakuba had briefly, after he concluded that Edogawa was Kudo, wondered if he should get himself tested for insanity. He took a deep breath. "Someone with whom I am acquainted is getting close to uncovering what I have been trying to hide. That person is good at keeping secrets, and on the right side of the law. What I need an opinion on is this: Conan-kun, if you were in my position," which he was, "would you want someone to confide in or would you continue to deny what the other party knew to be true?"

Edogawa thought for a few minutes before answering. "If, as you have stated, the other party can be absolutely trusted with the information, and I was in a position where my secret isolated me from the people I cared about – as you have alleged it does – then I think I would need a confidant."

"Then you have one… Kudo-kun."

xxxxxxXXXxxxxxx

From Meri: Hope you liked it! No direct shipping in this one, though in my head the whole time Kaito was commenting that he wouldn't mind actually being Saguru's boyfriend. So I imagine that sometime in the near future of this story, he begins to woo his Tantei-san.

Update: I've posted a sequel story centered on Kaito courting Saguru called "Slippery". I decided against making it chapters 2 and 3 of this story because "The Confidant" is a mystery and "Slippery" is a romance.

Please leave a review, even if it's just a line you liked/disliked. Every bit of feedback helps my writing!


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